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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “efficiency”

“efficiency” is pronounced /ɪˈfɪʃənsi/ (i-FI-shuhn-see) in American English and /ɪfɪʃənsi/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “fic”.
The sound

Say “efficiency” in 4 beats

Say it like this

efficiency

/ɪˈfɪʃənsi/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɪfɪʃənsi/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

4 beats
  1. efɪ
  2. ficfɪstress
  3. ienʃən
  4. cysi
IPA (American)
/ɪˈfɪʃənsi/
IPA (British)
/ɪfɪʃənsi/
Respelling
i-FI-shuhn-see
Syllables
4 — ef-FIC-ien-cy
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ef-FIC-ien-cy. “fic” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ɪˈfɪʃənsi/

British

/ɪfɪʃənsi/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “efficiency” means

  1. noun

    the ratio of the output to the input of any system

  2. noun

    skillfulness in avoiding wasted time and effort

    “she did the work with great efficiency”

Say it in a sentence

“Small changes to the heating improved efficiency straight away.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
ɪshort i×2ffʃshəschwannssilong e

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“efficiency”, answered

How do you pronounce “efficiency”?

“efficiency” is pronounced /ɪˈfɪʃənsi/ (i-FI-shuhn-see) in American English and /ɪfɪʃənsi/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “fic”. Build it as ef-FIC-ien-cy, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “efficiency” have?

4: ef · fic · ien · cy. The beat lands on the second, “fic”.

Is “efficiency” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ɪˈfɪʃənsi/ (i-FI-shuhn-see); British English says /ɪfɪʃənsi/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “efficiency” mean?

As a noun: the ratio of the output to the input of any system For example: “Small changes to the heating improved efficiency straight away.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “efficiency”?

Stress the second syllable: ef-FIC-ien-cy. “fic” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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